The releasable engagement of front tires to bicycles using skewers is well-known. Certain designs for bicycle forks, however, have necessitated that the axle upon which the front wheel of the bicycle rotates be fortified. Examples include mountain bikes and other types of bicycles designed to withstand substantial shock forces in the fork which could damage a conventional skewer. Therefore, the through-axle design has been developed for these fortified forks. The through-axle comprises a solid round bar or hollow tube that is received in sleeves, typically at the lower ends of the two legs of the fork, and constituting a hub. Typical sizes of the through-axle are 10 mm, 15 mm and 20 mm installed on hubs that can range in widths from 100 mm to 160 mm.
Vehicular load carriers for bicycles, in at least one type of design, have typically incorporated an anchor in which the skewer that normally secures the front wheel to the bicycle fork is instead used to secure the fork to an anchor that is either positioned upon the load carrier or is made as an integral part of the load carrier. The utilization of through-axle connectors to the forks has thus necessitated a new design for such anchors.